1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to interactive computer controlled display systems, and more particularly, to mapping structures that correlate related information in the display.
2. Prior Art
The use of interactive computer system displays for conveying information to a user is well known in the prior art. In a typical system the user uses a keyboard and/or mouse to select one or more items on the display screen. By manipulating the keyboard and/or the mouse, the user may display additional information about selected items. Examples of prior art interactive computer displays are set forth in the following U.S. patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,689,718: ICONs are used to link additional data. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,631: Direct manipulation of graph changes underlying data. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,602,981: A dynamically created icon is used to move between views. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,678: Graph type (e.g., pie, bar) is selected automatically. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,677: Symbols within a graph are changed. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,666,477: Pertains to selecting a style of graph (pie, bar, etc.). PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,084: Energy usage data is analyzed and graphed; scenarios are projected. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,550,964: Different symbols in graph show different analysis on the data. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,410: Algorithm produces a new type of graph.
The prior art patent provide visual displays of information in the fields of spreadsheet, accounting, statistics, etc. Noticeably, there are no displays that would adequately portray information relative to a network of monitored devices. The computer/telecommunication network area is a very important and fast growing area. Therefore, there is a need to provide graphical representations for displaying information in this area.
The effectiveness of any interactive computer system depends on the ease with which the user can manipulate items on the screen and the ease with which the user can visually correlates information on the screen. Even though the above prior art systems seem to work well for their intended purposes, they appear to lack visual correlation between related items in the display. In addition, the prior art displays appear inappropriate for displaying information relating to network management.